StoneMtn

I should say that I cannot take credit for that comment. It was made by my good friend, "Dancing Fool" from the upstreamentertainment.com board (as well as being my friend in real-life of course). DF wrote that quoted comment above, and he really knows his music; from about the 1940's or 50's to today, and from every corner of the world.

Jaimoe: I would be very surprised if the CRA "understands" that your wife doesn't declare her tips. Generally, people declare about 10%, but it has long been on the agenda of the CRA to one day go after these people for the 90% that amounts to tax fraud. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, and the CRA has told your wife not to worry about it.) I would also be very surprised if she is employed in some way that allows her employer to fire her without notice or reason. I believe that would violate the Employment Standards Act, and is actionable. I am not saying any of this to challenge you or demean your comments. If I am wrong, please feel free to explain why, but I think I am right.

I think that is right. Chomsky always goes on about "concision" and the fact that an article that would appear as 2000 words in business news (read only by wealthy businesspeople, by and large) can appear in a local newspaper in 75 words; essentially cut down to the level of rhetoric. Unfortunately, rhetoricians have traditionally and historically been hugely successful, as the general populace just wants you to "give me the bottom line; I'm not a details-man".

Aaaaah! Sorry, I should have realized what you meant. I'm certainly old enough to remember that friendly ghost. I was quite a fan at one time.

People have a weird tendency to want to use longer words for no reason. I am constantly correcting junior lawyers' writing to change words from "myself" to "me" or from "the female" to "woman". (If you've ever had occasion to read police reports, there are unbelievable examples of this to the point that I usually burst out laughing by the end of reading one.)

[color:purple]lazy-ass.

What does "gasper" mean?

Oh! You try to avoid escalating things to the level of physical violence. Maybe I should adopt that approach. (Probably not.)* *I should comment that apart from being knocked unconscious by the leader of a gang, which I really had no control over as I was minding my own business at the time, I've never been in a fight in my life.

Here's an interesting, related question. Has anyone here ever, actually told someone to their face to "Fuck off"? It sounds like a common thing, until you actually think about it. I think I've only done it once. I just kept repeating it, as the person kept trying to make excuses for their behaviour. It is really quite liberating to repeatedly say it to someone who deserves it. So, really, who here has actually stood face to face with someone and said that (and not to a friend, as a sarcastic joke).

Revenge.

Done. I owe you one hour of Soulive.

Actually in Canada it is "jewellery".

"undeclared" tips = tax fraud.

Keller has a new disc called "Dream". I can see why. Check out this list of special guests and what they contributed: Here's a podcast of Keller talking about this.

I picked up their DVD when they were in Toronto last. It is fantastic! I really knew nothing about them before that show. I only went because I was in Toronto to see Michael Franti, and it seemed like something to do afterward. I had no idea what I was in for. Mindblowing. (Sorry phorbesie for that little "pit stop" on the way from Franti to Soulive. I owe you 15 minutes of a Soulive show. Had I known what to expect, I would have been in much more of a rush!)

I feel your pain, Hamilton. We are well familiar with those same people in the lineups for the gondolas and chairlifts in Whistler. Whistlerites generally know that it is considered part of "Asian values", but the lifties certainly educate them on "Canadian values" when they try to get on the lift ahead of those polite enough to wait. We have a similar problem in Whistler with Aussies who believe that they shouldn't tip anyone in a bar or restaurant because they don't have to in Australia; and we tend to educate them as well.

I've never seen them, but I dig their disc (at least the one I have, and I don't remember the name). Great band, though.

I am so grateful right now that my mother doesn't read this board. All I need is AD giving her justification!

Alright, well given my general hatred of people overall, it's hard to narrow this down, but a particular habit of my mother comes to mind when I think of things that "piss me off": (ring) SM: "Hello" Mom: "Hi. I know you're at work, so are you busy?" SM: "Yes, actually I am appearing in Court tomorrow, and I've just been served with an argument incorporating all sorts of caselaw that I hadn't anticipated, so now I am scrambling like crazy to get my Reply prepared in the next hour, and I am going nuts." Mom: "Anyway, I'm calling because... blah blah blah" SM: "As I said, I'm really under the gun here to get something completed in the next 59 minutes, so I really have to go..." Mom: "Anyway, blah blah blah..." Ugh!

While we were on this topic, I went to the website of a group that I used to act for on a pro bono basis, which is also where I got my dog. I just found a picture of her at the very bottom of one of their pages ! I'm like a gushing, proud father.

So, you mean their actions pave the road to Hell; not their intentions?

What does that even mean?

He did get back to me in a later post. And yes, I am not completely pro-PETA, as I am rarely 100% in agreement with anyone, but I do agree with their intentions. As many of you know, though, I generally support smaller, local animal-advocacy groups when I can. That said, small, local groups can only bring about small, local changes.

I am generally pro-PETA, at least within this thread, but I don't think I ignored the comments from those against it. I think that in one case I specifically referred to such comments, and then explained why they were silly. In fact, the person who made the original comment then replied to me. His reply was odd, in that it seemed to celebrate the idea that an animal-advocacy group spent its money on a study in order to help animals and that study turned out to be worthless, which makes little sense to me unless you are a person who likes to see pro-animal-groups go bankrupt; but in any event I don't think we ignored each other.